TOP TEN THINGS I DID OVER THE LAST 6 MONTHS. In chronological order.

1. Played a concerto with my big brother with this former orchestra the San Diego Symphony.

Danzi Duo Concerto. An awesome experience playing with one of the best flutists in the world! Currently Principal Flute of the Seattle Symphony.

2. Toured Japan with the Metropolitan Opera.

This one was a challenge to have take place because of all the cancellations over radiation fears. It ended up being a tremendous success because we gave music and hope where they were fighting to have a sense of normalcy after a huge disaster.

3. Coached students at the Verbier Festival.

Talk about beauty. I love Switzerland.

4. Coached students at CCM Spoleto.

Ok, talk again about beauty. I love Italy as well.

5. Coached students at the Bowdoin Festival.

Maine is pretty nice too.

6. Toured Europe with Mitsuko Uchida and friends playing Schoenberg.

Played the Salzburg Festival and recorded a DVD for the Schoenberg Institute about the piece. Awesome.

7. Oh cool my lucky number. Played Tanglewood with Yo-Yo Ma and Manny Ax.

Brahms Trio is the best piece in the world. Sorry other best pieces in the world, this is a short blog post.

8. Coming to the end of the list. Give props to The Kingston Festival, Bridgehampton Festival and Bay Chamber Festival for being awesome as well.

Played cool pieces and most importantly I really ate some GOOD food this summer. Allen’s Seafood. Voted best Lobster by Anthony McGill 2011.

9. Played the Mozart Quintet with the Brentano String Quartet.

Concert in Houston at Da Camera. Awesome piece, awesome people, awesome time.

10. Wow I can’t believe this may have actually worked!!! Played the Mozart Concerto with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.

So this was the catalyst in my sleep. Best part of the whole trip was visiting the kids at a program called Kids in Tune. It is Kalamazoo Symphony’s new program to help keep music alive. Check out the link here. These kids are the future. Actually, duh, Anthony, all kids are the future. So how about we give them all a chance.

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/08/kalamazoo_symphony_orchestra_l.html

10 1/2. I like Kalamazoo. The people are nice. Check this out. I bet you haven’t heard of the Kalamzoo Promise. You won’t believe it.

https://www.kalamazoopromise.com/10things/10ThingsYouNeedtoKnow

Basically because of generous donors, any kid that attends k-12 in Kalamazoo and get’s into any public university in Michigan gets a full ride to college. Yes, seriously. Check it out. There is hope everywhere, well, definitely in Kalamazoo.

10 plus the other 1/2.  I’m stretching it here. Drum Roll. The real reason I loved Kalamazoo so much.

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/10/clarinetist_anthony_mcgill_wow.html

Thanks for listening and maybe there should be something called America’s Promise. That every kid can go to college for free. Just a thought.

Cheers,

A

http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/f585d4ba-ae46-4516-a486-8e09db702562/News/Chicago-clarinetist-sits-center-stage-alongside-world-renowned-musicians

click photo to enlarge

This past weekend I had the honor to play the Brahms Clarinet Trio with Yo Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax at Symphony Center in Chicago. It was a wonderful experience. The concert was the pinnacle of a weekend celebrating the launch of the Yo Yo Ma/Chicago Symphony’s Citizen Musician Initiative. The concept is a wonderfully simple one to grasp and hopefully will begin a movement to spread the gift of music to the largest amount of people. We went around to different places in the city, played, talked and spread music and friendship all over the place.

So what did I do exactly and why is it important?

I woke up Saturday and went to The Parkway Community Center and played for and talked with kids about the power of music and what meaning it had in my life. I had fun just spending time together and letting them know that I discovered at their age what I loved to do and went for it all the way. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago and I understand the struggles of so many young people. We discussed how you can focus your energies on positive people and positive endeavors to achieve your goals in life. My medium was music but the process is the same in all areas of life. We had a great time and then were off to the next destination.

We arrived at the Chicago Public Schools All-City Band rehearsal at Saucedo high and totally took them for surprise. I hopped up on stage and sat in during the rehearsal.  We first played Granada and then I got up, did a little talk/Q and A and then sat right back down. I put in a request for Thriller which I heard on the way in and we rocked out!!! This was so awesome because they totally could see me as a teenager no different than them, playing in the band and having fun. Well, they are all taller than me anyway!

We said our goodbyes, shared some photos and then headed downtown to meet up with the others for a talk and official launch of the initiative.

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I truly believe the concept that we are all apart of the same community is an important one psychologically for arts organizations and I applaud the CSO and other organizations such as my childhood home, the Merit School of Music, for believing in it’s importance. This approach can indeed change the way we perform, listen and reach out to others. The more we connect with one another on an individual level, whether professionals or amateurs, young or old, the more music will become important to us and vital to our modern world. Read the reviews and articles about this very special weekend below and visit www.citizenmusician.org for more info.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-live-0201-ma-review-20110131,0,5184194.column

http://music.newcity.com/2011/01/31/human-nature-the-cso%E2%80%99s-citizen-musician-initiative-addresses-our-universal-need-to-make-music/

http://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2011/01/yo-yo-ma-and-friends-launch-new-cso-project-and-seal-it-with-memorable-concert/

www.suntimes.com/entertainment/3586837-421/chicago-center-mcgill-saturday-cso.html

Cheers!

Anthony

Let’s start with the conductor. Simon Rattle communicates music through his hands, face and body as though he were a Stradivarius violin. This in turn allows us musicians to play similarly. He inspires with every gesture and glance, the seriousness or levity of the music. In rehearsals he is a great communicator and serious musician but you could also tell he was a generous person. I guess it didn’t hurt that he offered us a wine and cheese reception after the last rehearsal. Bribery always works with orchestras! His rhythm and stick technique are wonderful but mainly he communicates through every pore, the essence of music.

Debussy’s masterpiece Pelleas et Melisande is something quite elusive to many and, I must admit, not exactly my favorite opera before this moment. I knew it was beautiful but I didn’t know it had the ability to move me the way that it did. I ask myself, what was it about these performances that changed me. The color, tension, resolution, peaks and valleys of the work came alive to the point that I believed I was apart of some strange, alien, musical organism. I know this sounds strange but I remember the moment in one performance where I lost myself in a wave of energy that took me out of my body. It was wonderful. The vibration of the music and the spirit with which it was played created an atmosphere where this was possible and I was overwhelmed by a level of emotion I had never felt.

I had the pleasure about a month ago to also sit on a panel with Ara Guzelimian and Michael Gilbert for the League of American Orchestras and one of the questions was, “What makes a great concert?”  All of the following were offered up. Good playing, good music, great energy etc. These are all true and yet there is something more that is a bit indescribable. The troubling part is that it only happens in that particular moment and one cannot recreate it at any other moment. It is a wonderfully present experience that makes one feel very alive and is more special than the present that is fleeting and average. I suppose scientifically and simply it has something to do with dopamine being released in the brain when we hear lovely tones but I think that it is beyond that as well. Suffice it to say the performance was amazing and was as close to” love in sound” as I’ve ever been. Many of us that were there for these performances including the singers, audience, chorus and conductor, felt that something special happened on those beautiful evenings.

Go, download Pelleas, and while on your computer, read the libretto once, then go listen to it again. You may realize that the beauty of not knowing why you loved something, as I struggle in these words to describe it,  maybe makes us more human.   As Goland says,  Je ne sais pas… Je suis perdu aussi.    How can I tell? – For I too am astray.

Cheers!

Anthony

http://beta.wnyc.org/thegreenespace/events/2010/jun/24/caramoor-festival-sneak-peek/

He told a story about when he was a kid; the two recordings that he listened to the most were Benny Live at Carnegie with his band and Benny playing the Mozart Concerto. He said he was so confused. He chose to just play music and it happened to be predominately jazz. In the end we are all just musicians after all. My program this summer at Caramoor has a French theme and especially Debussy and Stravinsky (not French but a composer like others with a French soul) were influenced by jazz. Unfortunately Paquito will not be making a guest appearance on my concert but I will think of this always. This experience will forever shape how I approach all kinds of music. The energy and spontaneity was so real. I give thanks for experiences like this.

Cheers and yes, I made it!

Anthony

He was the foundation of the group. So solid, and strong was how he played. These are also words that come to mind when I think of all those hours of rehearsal. Each phrase played with feet firmly planted on the ground but with such freedom. Freedom to play as you wanted. He would always talk about the fact that the person with the melody had the melody and that was it. When he would play a melody he owned it completely.

When he said something about music, you listened. The way he played a phrase you would think that was exactly the way it should be played. Such confidence and little doubt. I learned to be strong and not mess around. Being next to him on a stage you knew that this was serious business, not something to mess around with or toy with but something extremely important. No funny business. Although as many people know, he was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.

In rehearsals after much talking or debate, he would start playing almost immediately. This always seemed to say to everyone, Shut up! This is what matters, the sounds, the music. His music lives and we can hear him now as before.We can hear him still everyday, every second that we want to. He has given us so much and we have that forever. Thank you for playing with me for me and teaching me with every note and every slide. (He would always make fun of me for playing an instrument that you couldn’t slide on

Thank you Mr. Soyer.

One of the gems of the music world, The New York String Orchestra Seminar is an awesome group of young musicians that come together once a year to be immersed in great music and instruction, culminating in concerts at Carnegie Hall. It was founded by Frank Salomon who created the seminar in 1969 for Alexander Schneider, one of the great musicians of our time. I participated in the program when I was in college and it changed my life. I go back whenever I can to coach and in this instance, conduct  a sectional. These kids are the best musicians in the country and the program led by Jamie Laredo is a true gem. Above are some photos from the sectional at the Manhattan School of Music courtesy of Allen Cohen. They really inspired and excited me to make all of those faces!!  Learn more about the seminar here.  http://www.newschool.edu/mannes/subpage.aspx?id=30433

A